Ethena Foundation buys out selling investors as 95% revenue buyback goes to a vote

The @EthenaFndtn has unveiled a sweeping overhaul of its token economics, buying out locked positions held by early seed investors and launching a governance vote that could redirect 95% of the protocol's net revenue into programmatic $ENA buybacks.

Investor Buyout and Unlock Acceleration

The foundation executed over-the-counter purchases of locked tokens from certain major seed investors over the past two weeks, targeting those originally allocated more than 0.25% of total $ENA supply who had sold any tokens within the previous nine months. Investors were divided into two groups based on activity after the market peak on October 10, 2025, with the foundation purchasing all unvested tokens from those who sold following that date, with the exception of one address that declined the offer.

All remaining investor tokens will now unlock on October 5, 2026, ending the monthly release calendar entirely. Team tokens remain locked on their original vesting schedules. The move removes future token overhang tied to scheduled venture capital unlocks.

The Buyback Proposal and IP Framework

Ethena has opened a governance proposal to implement a fee switch using net revenue from all of its business lines to programmatically buy back $ENA. The Snapshot vote, open through September 2, has already received approval from Ethena's Risk Committee.

Buybacks only begin once USDe circulating supply reaches $7.5 billion, at which point 95% of net revenue paid to the foundation funds the purchases. If the proposal passes, the share of revenue allocated to buybacks would rise from 5% to as much as 25% as USDe supply surpasses milestones of $7.5 billion, $10 billion, and $15 billion. USDe supply currently remains below $5 billion, after falling from a peak near $15 billion in October 2025.

A Master Framework Agreement, due in October, is set to hand protocol intellectual property and residual value to token holders, with Ethena Labs equity investors receiving neither. The agreement is expected to be published in October 2026.

$ENA jumped 22.67% to $0.169 following the announcement. The token is up 56.5% in a week and 84.6% over the past 30 days. The governance vote remains live and still requires quorum before any buyback mechanism becomes active.

Sources:
Yahoo Finance: Ethena Just Paid Its Early Investors to Exit as ENA Nears 100% Rally
Crypto Times: Ethena Announces Buyouts, Buybacks and Token Alignment Updates
Bitcoin Ethereum News: Ethena Proposes 95% Revenue Allocation to ENA Buybacks